Ashes to Ashes
by Kiki Yushima
Summary: Bella's been sent to Forks after her mother's death. Dark forces gather around her and she's thrust into the world of the supernatural. full summary inside
1. Summary

This is the summary of my Twilight rewrite, Ashes to Ashes. Some things will change, some things will stay the same. I'm not fond of Twilight which is why I'm rewriting it. Also, NO SPARKLES. This is a collab of me and a friend

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Bella Swan's mother, Renee, has died and the teen is being sent to Forks, Washington. With the expansive forests around the area, there is a somewhat mystical aura around the small town. There is indeed a secret there, but it's much darker than she anticipated. She's catapulted into a world of vampires, werewolves and other dark creatures. These creatures strive for Bella, but she doesn't understand why.

As Bella searches for answers, she finds most inhabitants of the small town either turn a blind eye or dismiss the creatures as legend. They say there has been no proof of them. The creatures have been around since the beginning of recorded time, however. The only proof is in legends of the Quileute tribe, whispered on the breath of the wind. The Quileute speak silently among themselves, thinking they are safe, but nowhere is safe.

As Bella runs and struggles through the darkest chapter of her life, two figures step out of darkness to help. One is Jacob Black, the former alpha of the Quileute werewolves. He was turned away from the pack, his birthright, when other members refused to see eye-to-eye with him. Seth and Leah Clearwater follow him. Jacob clings tightly to the ancient legends and some of the old traditions of the tribe.

The other figure is Edward Cullen, a vampire. He struggles with a deep-seeded hatred toward humans and other vampires. After being found nearly dead, he has joined a coven of vampires that survive by drinking only animal blood. But there is a price to pay for turning their backs on the traditional ways.

Werewolves and vampires have had a long-standing hatred and bitter rivalry in the Forks area for a long time. These two bitter rivals must join forces, however, if they wish to save Bella. Alice Cullen's visions are more irradic than ever, offering little to no hope for what the future holds. Preparations are being made on both sides for the gathering storm to break. But what they are waiting for, frew truly know...


	2. The Flight

We're still working out the kinks in the plot and still researching, but I wanted to get the first chapter written and posted. It's relatively short, but it'll start to give you a sense of my version of Bella. Okay, she's angsting, but it's understandable; her mom just died.

Please, no flames. Even if they are lulzy, I don't appreciate them.

Yes, I'm an anti. I just don't like a lot of the messages the books convey, the purple prose nor the monster inconsistencies. I liked the potential all the characters had though. I'm showing what I'd have done if Twilight were my creation, kay? Or at least one possibility.

* * *

Chapter 1

I took a deep breath and gulped to try to steady my nerves. I gripped the heavy coat in my hands and I was pretty sure my knuckles were white underneath. Flying was one the things I feared most. Even though I knew the plane was more likely to stay in the air than hit the ground, my fear gripped me almost as much as the sadness did.

I walked onto the plane and took my seat and fastened my seatbelt as tight as possible, then gripped both armrests. After about ten tense minutes, the annoying announcement explaining about seat belts and yadda yadda yadda. I'd not really been on planes a whole lot, but I knew the procedures in case of emergency. Really, who didn't?

I felt the plane jerk as it took off and my stomach jerked with it. I already felt queasy and the plane had just taken off. I really hoped it would be cloudy. I hated looking down and seeing the ground, miles below us, passing at over 500 miles per hour... I didn't mind seeing the clouds pass as long as I didn't have to look out at the ground.

I continued to sit there and wrestle with the queasiness and sadness inside. My mother, Renee, had just recently died from cancer. I was beyond devastated and still was. Mona, my mom's girlfriend, had also been completely destroyed. They had been together as long as I could remember. Yeah, my mom was bisexual, but I had no problem with it... Well, considering the fact I was too...

But poor Mona... She had volunteered to take me in, but she had no valid reason to be my guardian. My mom had told me to go to Forks if she died. I guess that was about the only upside of this. I loved my dad and Forks. The heat in Phoenix was almost unbearable, so I was relieved when I could go to Forks during summer vacation.

Unfortunately, because of Mom's cancer, we hadn't been able to go up the past two summers. It was really disheartening. It's not that I didn't love my mom and Mona; I just always looked forward visiting beautiful Forks.

A sudden surge of airsickness washed over me and I clapped my hand over my mouth, then grabbed the airsickness bag. I wretched into it, feeling extremely lightheaded. Oh how I despised flying... This is why I preferred Mom driving there... But Mom was gone and Mona refused to go near where some of our happiest memories were. She'd be sad for so long and so would I... I wanted this flight to be over so badly before I died of puking.


	3. Settling In

Chapter 2. It's longer than the other one. Sorry if it seems a little rushed toward the end; I have a problem with either dragging things on or rushing them. I wanted to go into dinner at the end, but I felt way too long winded. I know the chapters in the real Twilight are way longer but meh. I write short chapters.

So enjoy.

* * *

I would've run out of the plane as soon as possible if I hadn't been so lightheaded and there hadn't been other people. I looked around the airport, a bit daunted. Yeah, Phoenix was a big city with big buildings, but I never really went in them other than the library. I was a total bookworm though I never really told anybody. My social standing was somewhat in the outcast department.

"Bells!" I looked over and saw my dad walking over to me. I smiled a little shyly. I loved my dad, but it had been two years since I had last seen him. He was a bit wider than I had last seen him, but he looked the same otherwise. "How's my girl?" He ruffled my hair and I smiled weakly at him. He was happy to see me, but I could see the sadness in his eyes. I had always known he had continued to love Mom even after she left him. Well, not always, but I had for a long time.

"Hey, Dad." I hugged him though it was half hearted. We were both experiencing the loss of Mom pretty hard. It was probably especially hard for him because of him still having loved her for so long and seeing her almost every year since my birth. I knew he had been happy for her but also heartbroken when he had first seen Mom with Mona. He had confided in me a lot of his secrets because he knew I wouldn't tell anybody. If there was one thing I was known for, it was keeping secrets.

We walked silently out of the airport and got in the cruiser. Normally, I looked forward to spending any moment possible with Dad, but this ride was going to be awkward and silent; I could just tell. I was also normally very chatty with him, but because of Mom's death, I had become quieter than normal even. My best friend, Elly, had been really worried about me before I left.

I sighed and looked out the window, watching the scenery pass at 55 miles per hour. I continued to watch until I jerked awake. I had apparently fallen asleep and I looked over. Dad looked at me, worry also in his eyes. "Dad, I'm fine. I'm just tired." It was true; I hadn't slept very well since Mom's death and when I did finally fall asleep, it was from the exhaustion of crying. What worried him was that I had fallen asleep in the car. That was something I almost never did because I loved to watch the scenery pass by.

"Well, we're home..." I blinked. I had slept the whole way? I must be more tired than I thought... I got out of the car and Dad opened the trunk. My two meager bags were there. They were all I had been allowed to bring by Mona. She said she'd send me some more of my stuff or possibly even bring it to me. I kind of doubted the latter, but I held onto hope.

I grabbed my bags, then stopped when I saw a truck in the driveway. It looked old and a bit beat-up, but it was sturdy to say the least. "Oh, I see you found your welcome-home gift..." Dad looked away, feeling awkward. "I also hoped it might help you settle down a bit more and maybe ch...oof!" I dropped my bags and hugged him around the neck.

"Thank you." A few tears trickled down my cheeks. Dad had always been awesome, but I had never expected him to buy me a car, let alone a truck. I had this weird liking for trucks that he said had developed during my childhood when Billy Black had driven me, Jacob and his sisters around in the back. In fact... "Dad, is this the truck Billy used to have?"

"Y-Yeah," he said, a bit surprised, then he smiled. "I thought you would probably recognize it, but I wasn't completely sure. Billy's in a wheelchair now, so he doesn't have much use for it. He gave it to me to give to you. He knew how much you used to like this thing..."

"It's perfect," I said. "We'll have to go up to La Push soon to thank him." I picked up my bags and headed into the house. The momentary happiness over the truck evaporated as I walked into the house. It was a bit different than I had last seen it. Dad had painted the living room a pleasant shade of green instead of the ugly yellow that had been there previously. He had also added a pine tree border. Guess he had finally brought his love of the woods and hunting inside.

I went up to my room and blinked. He had also changed my room from what it had been last time. The walls were a light blue, almost periwinkle, with a wolf border. My dad was so cool. Wolves were my favorite animals probably because of the Quileute legends that had to do with werewolves. There were also a few decorations that had clearly come from La Push; it looked like Rachael or Rebecca had made them. They had always been good at crafts and loved them.

I sat my bags down and gasped when I saw the wall over my bed. It was a giant wolf mural. That was definitely Rachael's handiwork. Dad walked in and I hugged him around the neck again. "What...?"

"The mural. It must've been hard to get Rachael to do it. She's rarely ever at La Push and even then she's working like crazy. I can't believe you got her to paint something so lifelike.." I looked at it again and smiled. The wolf looked so serene, but it still had the sense of being wild and dangerous underlying. I'd never encountered a wolf before except at safe distance at zoos but I felt like this was what a wolf was like.

"Yeah. It took her about two weeks to paint. She said normally something like this would've cost a couple hundred, but since we're such good family friends..." Dad trailed off. I could tell he was still in an awkward position. It was going to take him a little bit of time to get used to being my full-fledged guardian. "I'll leave you to unpack." He left the room and I unpacked fairy quickly.

I sat at the new desk he had gotten me and examined my room again. It was so beautiful, just like the woods outside. I stood up and stretched. What was I doing inside like this? It was cloudy and damp outside, but it was still beautiful out. I walked to my window and my heart sank a bit. It was raining. The rain didn't bother me much, but it was a downpour. I had forgotten how fast the weather could change.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something move in the bushes at the edge of the forest. I couldn't make out any distinctive shapes, but whatever it was had to have been big; a branch about three or four feet off the ground had also shaken a bit. Maybe a bird? That didn't seem likely because the branch, while a bit willowy, wasn't thin enough to be moved by a small bird. It hadn't been the rain, either; it had moved up for a brief second and coincided with the bush.

How weird. There were no big predators in this part of Washington and I doubted an elk or deer would come this close to human habitation. Then again, they did become situated to humans... I shrugged it off. It probably just was an elk.

I was excited about tomorrow; it was the first day of school but it was a pity since it was Friday. I'd probably forget my way around the school by Monday. I was also a bit nervous. My former school had a lot more kids than Forks High did. I wondered if I would make any friends right away. I was extremely awkward socially until I got to know people and the teachers would probably make me introduce myself. I hated speaking in front of groups. I sighed. Well, whatever. I'd just find out tomorrow, wouldn't I?


	4. First Day

X.x I've been typing this for about four hours. I've been RPing and on GPX (Global PokedeX Plux; yeah, I'm a Pokenerd), but still. x.X LONG chapter...at least for me. Had to do a few edits and add a few things to make it consistent.

I'm pretty sure there were seven classes in the original book, but I couldn't remember the seventh, so I just went with six. I was too lazy to look on my PDF copy of Twilight.

....Yeah. Not much to say other than it's longer than most of my chapters in anything else.

* * *

I woke up and looked out my window. The sun was slightly risen and the mist was thick. The sight took my breath away; it almost reminded me of the pictures of the Amazon rain forest except the trees were a mix of evergreen pine and a few deciduous. It was beautiful nonetheless. This was one of the reason I loved Forks. A shard of sadness pierced my heart as I remembered all the happy times Mom, Mona and I had shared here.

I headed downstairs and all was quiet. Dad was still asleep. I had a feeling he wouldn't wake up for a bit. I had over an hour until I had to leave for school; it didn't start till nearly eight.

I turned into the kitchen and inhaled deeply; I was in my element. Though I was more of a tomboy than anything, I still absolutely loved cooking. It helped me escape and all the scents floating around... I especially loved baking. Cookies, cakes, brownies... Anything that could be baked, I could almost certain bake it though I usually burned it the first few times...

I started rummaging through the cupboards and sighed. They were relatively spartan. I guess Dad had forgotten to go shopping before my arrival. I made a mental note to go shopping or to tell Dad to. Oh well. I could make due with what there was at hand.

A little bit later, I had a breakfast whipped up. I looked over and saw Dad coming from his room. He was yawning, then blinked when he smelled what I had cooked. "Bells? You made breakfast?"

"Yeah, Dad, I love cooking. I've gotten better since.." I looked at the ground. I had always cooked before Mom fell ill, but I hadn't been the best. Mona had never really cooked before, so I had needed to step up quite a bit.

We sat at the table and ate in silence for a bit. "It's good, Bells. I'm impressed. Can you cook fresh fish?"

I swallowed and nodded. "Yep. Sometimes I got whole fish just to learn how to cook them." I smiled and finished breakfast, then washed my dishes. "Leftovers for tomorrow morning unless you eat more than that. Going out for a couple minutes."

Before he had the chance to say anything, I dashed out the door and into the forest. I glanced up and saw my window, then located where the bush and tree branch had been moved. I figured the rain would have washed away the tracks of what I saw. To my surprise, though, there was a fresh set.

Giant paw prints. They looked like great dog prints except they were huge. They had to have at least been three or four times bigger than normal dog prints. It could have been a mutation or something, but I doubted it. It really didn't seem likely. I also kind of doubted that anyone around here had a Great Dane or other large breed and let it run loose. Whatever the creature was, though, had been here not too long ago. I didn't dare go investigate. Whatever this thing was, it was big, it was a predator and that meant it was deadly.

I looked at the tracks for a few more minutes, then went back inside. I looked at the clock and saw I should leave soon, so I gathered my stuff. I headed out to my truck and flung my backpack into the cab. "Be careful if you go into the woods, Bells." Dad walked up and I blinked. "There have been some strange reports from hikers of large predators. Nobody can tell what they are, so be especially careful."

"Okay, Dad." I nodded and got into the cab. "See you after school." I put the keys into the ignition and the engine roared to life. It was loud, deafening even, but that was one reason I loved this truck. When Jacob, his sisters and I were younger, Billy would roar the engine as we walked past. We would always get scared, but then seeing Billy laugh usually made us laugh too. I smiled at the memories as I pulled out of the driveway.

I decided I'd call the Blacks after school and see if I could come over tomorrow. I loved La Push and its beach. Granted, it wasn't the war, white sand beaches that normally came to mind, but it was still beautiful. I especially loved the tidal pools and the driftwood.

I continued to drive slowly because of the slick roads. I wasn't used to this type of driving really though I'd learn soon enough. A few times before I reached the school, I nearly went off the road, but managed to stay on. I was relieved when I finally pulled into the school parking lot.

I grabbed my backpack and headed into the school's office. The secretary, an older woman, didn't notice as I walked in. I gulped, already feeling awkward. "Um..." The secretary looked at me harshly.

"Who are you?"

"B-Bella Swan. My d-dad should have r-registered me..." I stammered as I squirmed under her hard gaze.

"Oh yes." She opened a filing cabinet and looked through it. After a few minutes, she shoved a couple of papers into my hands. The look on her face clearly said I should leave which I gladly did.

I looked at my schedule. English, Trig, Spanish, History, Bio and Gym. I groaned. I hated Trig. I sucked so badly at math it wasn't funny. I was still in Advanced Algebra at my old school and we had barely gotten to some graph stuff like parabolas and crap. I was going to fail so hard. At least I was decent at English and Bio. I was iffy in gym because I had a tendency to trip over my teammates though I liked some sports. I was a total history buff, though, thankfully.

I looked at the other piece of paper and breathed a sigh of relief. It was a map. I'd need it for a while since it usually took me a while to learn where things were. Even with the map, though, it took me three or four minutes to find the English building.

The other kids came in about three minutes before the bell, all loud and chattering. I shrunk in my seat, wanting to disappear desperately. I had this fear of crowds if I didn't recognize a friendly face. I rarely left my house back in Phoenix unless I was with my friends. A boy with slicked back, black hair sat next to me. "You okay?"

"Just afraid of people I don't know," I muttered, staring at the desk.

"You don't have to worry. Most people here in Forks are good folks. I'm Eric, by the way. Who are you?"

"Bella Swan. I just got here yesterday. My dad's police chief," I said a little louder. Eric seemed pretty nice. The smile on his face was plenty friendly and he seemed willing to help which was good. Maybe he'd be a friend if I could get to know him.

"There have been rumors something happened to the chief. My mom says it had something to do with his former wife."

"Mom died of cancer..."

"I'm so sorry." I saw Eric's blue eyes cloud with pity and sorrow. "Welcome to Forks anyway."

"Thanks," I muttered, falling silent again. The teacher called us to order and the class quieted down.

"Miss Swan, would you please come up and introduce yourself?" she asked and I jumped.

"Well, I..uh...um..." I shrunk in my seat again as I felt almost every pair of eyes look at me. I hated being the center of attention.

"It's not that hard, Miss Swan," the teacher said gently. "Just say your name and tell us a little bit about yourself."

I opened my mouth and tried to find my voice, but it failed me. Whenever I got in front of a group of people, I froze and couldn't speak. People tended to see me as anti-social because of my shyness. The teacher continued to look at me, but I shook my head, unable to speak. She shrugged after a minute, then went on teaching.

The beginnings of Trig and Spanish went much the same way. The teachers wanted me to introduce myself, but it was a no go. My voice failed and I felt like I was the laughing stock of the school. Nobody was openly laughing at me, but I had a feeling at least a few people were. If my first three classes had been like this, what would the other three be like?

At lunch, I was a little less jumpy and had managed to talk to a couple people which was an accomplishment for me. I recognized a few faces from when I had visited Forks before, but I couldn't remember names to save my life. It just wasn't my strong point. One face I vaguely recognized was this one girl from my Spanish class. She was about a head shorter than me with long brown hair that was a few shades lighter than mine. She babbled at lot and I only had to nod every now and then. She also bounced a lot as she walked which was a bit annoying, but I liked her a bit.

I sat with her, the boy from English, a girl I had met in Trig and a few others. There was this one girl, though, that looked a bit out of place. She was talking to a boy with semi-spiky blonde hair. I couldn't exactly put my finger on how she was different. She just...was. It was just this weird air about her.

The girl looked to be a bit shorter than the girl from Spanish though not much. She had short black hair that was spiked out toward the bottom. Her clothes were relatively plain, but a flash of gold caught my eye. She had a bracelet on that looked like it was studded with diamonds. It was dainty, something that wouldn't be easily seen, but I had an eye for jewelery.

I nudged the girl from Spanish. "What's your name again?"

"Jessica. That's the fourth time I've told you, Bella." She looked slightly annoyed and offended, so I smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry. I'm not good with names and faces. I'll probably have to ask you again Monday." Jessica shrugged and went back to talking with the girl from Trig, who had black hair and glasses.

The girl with spiky black hair looked over at me, then scooted over until she was sitting across from me. "Hi. I'm Alice Cullen. You must be Bella." I looked around, feeling awkward under her crystal blue gaze. "My dad is a doctor and he's well acquainted with Charlie."

"I...see.." She was perfectly pleasant, it seemed, but there was just something unnerving about her. I noticed the others looked a little ill at ease as well, but they seemed just to care.

"You might want to go main street instead of the other way you came." Alice blinked, then walked off, meeting a guy with dirty blonde hair as she left the cafeteria. I sighed and nudged Jessica again.

"Who...was that?"

"Alice and Jasper Cullen. They're together. They're Doctor Cullen's kids. Well, adopted. That should be illegal, right?" She shrugged, then pointed to another table. A girl with bleach blonde hair and hazel eyes sat next to a boy with brownish-bronze hair and stunning green eyes. The boy looked thoroughly annoyed with her since he was glaring at a wall. "That's Rosalie and Edward. Again, Doctor Cullen's adopted kids." She looked at Edward and sighed longingly. I shrugged and went back to eating.

My next class passed without much incident...aside from the trying to introduce myself thing. That was a train wreck like always. I managed to get a few words out, but there were no coherent sentences or thoughts. I nearly died from embarrassment, but Angela, the girl from Trig, helped me get through it. I was so grateful. She seemed like she'd be a true blue friend if I got to know her.

I walked into bio and saw no open tables except for the near the boy with bronze-ish hair from lunch. I think his name was Edmund or something like that. I sat next to him and saw his fist clench. What in the world? I hadn't said anything to him, but the look on his face said he already hated me!

I put my hair as a curtain between us though it didn't do much; my hair was thin and short. It only went to just above my shoulders because I tended to be rough and tumble with the boys. I was clumsy, but I still liked to play tackle football.

"Ahem." I looked up and saw the teacher looking at me. "Would you like to introduce yourself, Miss Swan?" I gulped and shook my head vehemently; I didn't want to repeat the last four classes. The teacher stared at me for a few minutes as if trying to force me to change my mind, but gave up after seeing I wouldn't budge.

I payed attention to the teacher all lesson, not wanting to give the guy next to me the satisfaction of knowing he was getting to me. I could tell he was staring – more like glaring – at me. As soon as the bell rang, the guy got up and practically ran out of the classroom. As he passed me, could have sworn I heard him hiss. What. The. Hell? I'd not even said anything to him! Sheesh...

I sighed and headed to gym. I liked sports but I wasn't terribly good at them. I had a really bad tendency to fall and trip over my teammates. I also didn't really work well with others. I just had an independent nature which I had gotten from Mom.

Luckily, I didn't have to introduce myself because the teacher pretty much overlooked me. Well, aside from the whole uniform thing, but that was all right. The boy from lunch with the semi-spiky blonde hair picked me for his badminton team. He was pretty cool about everything, even me tripping over him about three or four times while trying to hit the birdie. I was pretty awful at first, but after I got into the groove of it, I wasn't too terribly bad.

After leaving gym, I got in my truck and headed home. I tried to go the semi-back roads, but there was an accident. It didn't look bad, but it was blocked off, so I headed down main street. It was weird; that girl with the spiky black hair had been right. How had she known?

I pulled into the driveway and saw the driveway empty, so that meant Dad wasn't home. Guess he'd be back later. I found a note on the table labeled "Bells." I quickly read it and smiled. He had left me Jacob's number which I had completely forgotten. I talked to Jacob via email every now and again since Mom hadn't let me call long distance save for Dad once in a great while.

I grabbed the phone and dialed. Two rings, three rings... Click.... "Hello?" I grinned as I recognized Billy's husky voice. "Charlie?"

"Nope," I said. "I'm Bella."

"Bella! I just saw the caller ID and figured it was Charlie..."

"Don't worry about it, Uncle Billy." I heard him laugh. I hadn't called him that since I was a child. "Is Jacob there? I was hoping to talk to him, maybe come over tomorrow."

"Of course you can," Billy said. "Jake really misses you. Jacob!" A few moments passed and I heard an excited voice.

"Bella! You're here! That's great! I mean it isn't because of Renee, but... Oh man! I can't wait to see you again!" Jacob chattered away for about fifteen minutes, giving me a few details of what he had been doing since our last email. "So today was your first day, huh? How'd you like it?"

"The kids were cool especially this one from gym." I scratched my head, trying to remember his name. "I can't remember his name. Blonde, spiky hair, round face, kinda lean..."

"I don't really know a lot of the kids around Forks. Mostly stick to the reservation." He paused. "But sounds a bit like the Newton's kid. They run the sporting goods store. I've seen him around there. I go there sometimes to listen to hikers." Another pause. "Oh well. See you tomorrow then?"

"See you tomorrow." I smiled and heard a click on the other end, so I hung up. I felt my smile fade a bit at Jacob's weird behavior during the last few minutes. It wasn't really like him to pause like that. He wasn't the most talkative person at all times, but when he got going, he didn't really stop except when he knew you had something to say. I shrugged it off. It might just have been he didn't really know what to say or something. Ah well.

I looked around the kitchen. It was still spartan and I sighed. Maybe Dad would go grocery shopping before he got home. I really didn't feel like going out after my disastrous day at school out of fear some of the kids might be there and laugh at me. I dialed his cell and left a message for him to go shopping. With nothing really else left to do, I grabbed a book to pass the time. I couldn't wait for tomorrow. I was going to see Jacob, my best friend since childhood. I doubted Rachael or Rebecca wold be there, but maybe I would get lucky.


	5. Visit

I wrote this and the next...chapter and a half at least 2-3 weeks ago, but I'm really lazy and don't like typing them up right away.

'Neway, this chapter and the next few might seem a little detatched, awkward and a bit boring because I've been in a really stoic mood lately. I haven't really been able to connect with my characters, so my writing's usually fairly cut and dry with that.

This chapter is mostly just filler. I skip over the majority of the visit because I couldn't think of anything else to write. Probably might also seem a bit rushed at the end because I just wanted to get to the next school chapter.

Enough of my rambling.

* * *

I groaned when the alarm started beeping, then hit the snooze button before remembering I was going to see Jacob. It was about eight. I had to set my alarm because I had a bad habit of sleeping until about noon. I probably would've kept poor Jacob waiting.

I threw the covers off and grabbed a change of clothes, then dashed into the shower. "Better not take too long in there, Bells!" I heard Dad call from downstairs. Like that would be a problem. Mom had taken longer showers than me. I let the water flower over me for a few minutes, imagining the sadness flowing down the drain. It's weird, I know, but it really seemed to help often.

About ten minutes later, I came downstairs where Dad was warming up leftovers from yesterday morning. "Morning, Bells."

"Morning, Dad," I said, popping a piece of bread into the toaster.

"You sure seem in a hurry."

"I'm eager to see Jacob. It's been two years."

Dad chuckled. "I doubt he'll even be awake yet. Billy complains about how long Jake sleeps in. Till three sometimes, he's said."

"I just have a feeling he'll be awake soon." It was true; I had this weird feeling Jacob would. For some reason, we seemed to have this weird bond, Jacob and me. Sometimes if I was feeling down, he would send me and email that would generally cheer me up. It just might've come from the fact we grew up together.

Dad shrugged and I grabbed my toast. I slapped some butter on it, then ran out the door. Knowing Sue Clearwater, there would be food there.

As I hopped into my truck, a pang of sadness struck me again. About four years ago, Sue's husband, Harry, had died of a heart attack. I hadn't known Harry well, but I knew Leah and Seth. Leah and I had gotten on pretty well while we were younger. I wondered how she was doing now. Bill and Sue were close friends and she always cooked for Billy and Jacob.

I drove in silence and pulled up to Jacob's a bit later. Jacob was waiting outside to my surprise. He ran over and nearly yanked the door off my truck, then twirled me around. I laughed, happy to seep him again. After a few minutes, he let me down and thumped me on the back with a massive hand.

I was amazed at how big he was. He had to have been at least six feet tall with bulging muscles. His face was still fairly youthful, but his body looked like he had been lifting weights for ten years or so while his long black hair fell around his shoulders.

"Wow, Jake, sure been packing on the pounds, I see," I said, poking him in the arm. I saw him shifter a little uncomfortably and wondered what that was about. I grinned. "Great to see you again."

"You can say that again." Jacob grinned and poked me. "You look fragile as ever. How're you?"

"About as good as one can be after…" I trailed off and looked at the ground. Jacob gently patted me on the back and wiped a tear from my cheek. "Thanks."

"No prob." He smiled gently. "Come on in. Sue cooked a lot." He led me inside and I smiled a bit as the scent of food washed over me. Sue walked over, smiling.

"Hello, Bella." She smiled kindly at me and the sadness melted away…almost.

"Hello, Mrs. Clearwater. Long time, no see. It smells fantastic in here," I said and she blushed a bit.

"Oh, you're just flattering me."

"No, it's true. You've always cooked wonderfully. You're one of the reasons I love to cook." I smiled. What I said was true. Sue's cooking was absolutely amazing and had inspired me to try to be like her.

She smiled. "Are you hungry? There'll be plenty when it's done…if Seth and Jacob don't eat it all." She sent a bemused smile to her son and Jacob who were clearly waiting. "You boys better let the girls go first."

"Where is Leah, anyway?" I asked, looking around. I had expected to see her in here with her brother; the two were like magnets and were rarely away from each other. They all glanced at each other nervously. There was clearly something going on they weren't telling me. Though I hadn't seen them in two years, I'd been around them long enough to know when something was up. Billy had called me extremely perceptive even while I was a child.

"She'll be back in a while," Sue said, walking back to the stove. I went to the living room and sat down in a chair. I had a feeling something major had happened in the past two years, but I didn't know what it was. It had to be something big if Jacob hadn't told me. Aside from crushes and some small things, Jacob and I were almost always completely honest with each other. What was it?

"Bella, breakfast," I heard Sue call. I stood up and walked into the kitchen. I noticed Leah was there, having come in the back door. She was panting a bit and was drenched with sweat though there were no sweat stains on her clothes. I knew it wasn't impossible, but it seemed highly unlikely with how much she was panting. Jacob and Seth were looking at the food like dogs waiting for something to drop on the floor.

I sat at the table and put as much food on my plate as possible. I was skinny, but I had a high metabolism, so I tended to eat and snack constantly. As soon as I finished piling my plate, the other three jumped on it like ravenous dogs. Jacob and Seth had always eaten a lot, being boys, bug Leah had almost always been a bit of a dainty eater…

I shrugged it off and dug in. Man, I had forgotten how good Sue's cooking was. I really needed to exchange recipes with her.

Breakfast was a relatively quick affair with no leftovers. Sue assured me she would cook something for her and Billy, then encouraged us to leave the room. I'm glad those two got on so well; I still remember how sad she, Billy and Dad had been when Harry had died.

I watched as my three friends walked. It was a little weird. Seth and Leah were flanking Jacob. It wasn't unusual for friends to follow a little behind who they saw as leader, but Leah and Jacob had never gotten on that well. That was the main reason it was so weird.

We headed to the beach and I smiled, enjoying the sea breeze. It was chilly because it was almost December, but I didn't mind. It was just so good to be back. I noticed my friends talking in low voices and raised an eyebrow when Seth ran off. "What was that about?" I asked.

"Nothing," Jacob said quickly. It was a little too quickly and he noticed. I looked at him and he looked away. "Hey, remember when we were kids? We used to run along the beach and see who could gather the most driftwood, then start a bonfire. Well, our dads used to oversee us, but we wouldn't have to do that now."

"Yeah!" I smiled enthusiastically. I wouldn't drop Jacob's strange behavior, but I didn't want to ruin my first visit to him in so long. "It's been years since we've done this, but let's do it!" Jacob chuckled. "What?" I glowered slightly at him.

"You're such a kid sometimes, Bella." I stuck my tongue out at him and folded my eyes. He laughed and even Leah chuckled.

"Go!" I said. I took off in one direction, leaving Jacob and Leah to eat my dust. I looked over my shoulder and saw them a little bewildered and laughed. I shivered a bit as I slower down and looked around for driftwood. Jacob always won and I had no doubt that he would this time, but I was going to give him a run for his money.

I searched around and sighed. I had chosen the wrong stretch of beach. Oh well. I wandered around for a bit, picking up any driftwood I could find. After a while, I had actually found a decent amount, but found myself wandering toward the forest. I remembered what Dad had said the other morning: stay out of the woods.

"Bella!" I turned around and saw Jacob running toward me. He wasn't carrying any driftwood, so I assumed he had dropped it elsewhere. "What are you doing all the way out here? It can be dangerous in the woods. You don't know what's prowling around in there. Didn't Charlie tell you that it's dangerous?"

"Yeah. I wasn't planning on going in there. Dad did warn me." Jacob put an arm around me and I shuddered a little bit. He was burning hot, but I wasn't complaining. The wind was beginning to blow harder, so I assumed that meant a storm was brewing. I dropped the wood as Jacob swept me into his arms and ran back to the house. We managed to get in just as the first few drops started to come down.

"That was close," I said as I sat on the couch.

"Yeah…" Jacob muttered, walking to the kitchen. I blinked when I heard rising voices a few minutes later.

"I didn't know there would be out there! I don't share the mind anymore," I heard Jacob snarl.

"Calm down. We can't have an accident in here," Billy said.

"You mean you didn't smell him until you go there?" Leah asked, sounding perplexed.

"We were downwind." Jacob's voice became more of a growl and I gulped. He sounded dangerous. I hadn't known him to get angry so easily. I really didn't want to know what the word 'accident' meant in this context.

"I know they wouldn't hurt her, but don't let her out of your sight again," Billy said. Did they mean me or Leah? Somehow I doubted the latter. Leah looked a lot stronger than me and she could fend for herself. Who would want to hurt me? Why did Jacob need to keep me under his watch? What did they mean by smelling?

The conversation died down to where I couldn't eavesdrop anymore. I sighed and tried to think of a story to entertain myself I liked to think of little stories in my head when I got bored though I never wrote them down. I wasn't overly good with the word to paper thing and my brain moved faster than I could write or type.

I settled on my continuing story of a knight falling in love with a princess. Cliché, yes, but the knight was a princess and the princess didn't return the knight's feelings. The knight was determined to get the princess to fall in love with her through flattery, kindness and sincerity. Whenever they could be alone, the princess acted like a bitch with a capital B toward the knight, but the princess was secretly falling for the knight little by little…

"Bella." I jarred out of my story-induced trance and saw Jacob. He was shaking me a bit to snap me out of it. "You okay? You were staring into space with a glazed look in your eyes and a weird look on your face."

"Sorry," I said. "I was working on my story. I was in my zone." I grinned sheepishly and Jacob smiled.

The rest of my visit was relatively uneventful aside from a few instances when Jacob, Seth and Leah looked awkward when I said something. I really wondered why they were acting so strange and what they were keeping from me. I pondered this as I drove home and walked inside around 6PM.

"Hey, Bella. Enjoy your visit?" Dad asked. He was soaked to the bone and had a cooler next to the counter. He was grinning and I couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah." It wasn't a complete lie; I had enjoyed myself, but the strange behavior was overshadowing that. "What's with the cooler? And why are you soaked?"

"I went fishing with a guy from the station. Got a good hall."

"Looks like we're having fish tonight," I said as I began looking through the fish. I selected one of a decent size. "Looks good. Can't wait to eat it. It'll take a while."

"You gonna filet and gut it?" Dad blinked, surprised, as I nodded. "You're usually really squeamish…"

"Dad, human blood and fish blood are different…at least in my mind." I winced at the thought of it. "That's how I keep from passing out." Dad nodded and headed upstairs to shower. I hummed happily as I cut and diced the fish.

After quite a while, everything for dinner was ready. "Dinner!" I called to dad and he walked in, surprised.

"Wow! You've really outdone yourself." I smiled and sat down to eat. "This is great. I'll get fat if we eat like this every night."

"You mean even more so?" I teased gently and he blushed slightly, causing me to chuckle.

We finished eating and I went upstairs. Dad had told me he would clean up because I cooked so well. To my shock, my window was open slightly. What the hell? I had shut and locked it when I had left. Had someone broken in? How? I looked on the floor and noticed one of my socks from yesterday missing, but nothing else. Why would someone take just a sock especially when my MP3 player and laptop were sitting right in the open?

"Dad!" He came upstairs right away.

"What's the matter?"

"I think someone broke into my room." I pointed at the window. "I know that was locked when I left."

"I opened it. It was stifling in here earlier, so I let some of the heat out."

"Oh." I was probably wrong, then, even about the sock. They were easily lost especially with me. "Just warn me if you do that again, please." I smiled sheepishly. I usually jumped to conclusions and sometimes the worst at that. Dad just rolled his eyes playfully and patted me on the head. I closed my window and drew the curtains close, then went to bed.


	6. Questions

Yay filler. XP Long and boring chapter is long and boring.

* * *

_I looked down and saw the world passing below. It was beautiful; the dark green of pine mixed with the fiery oranges, reds, yellows of deciduous… I blinked, suddenly wondering why I wasn't terrified… I always felt like I would fall out of the sky when in the air… I noticed the feeling of something soft under my fingers…I was on the back of a giant black bird… I felt so safe, like it would never let anything harm me…_

The alarm blared and I groaned. It was Monday, six in the morning. Sunday had passed by in a blur of words and pages as well as the scents of the kitchen. All I had to do was pop breakfast in the microwave thankfully.

Ugh… I hated Mondays especially if it meant school… I woefully dragged myself through my morning schedule though my shower took longer than planned. Normally mine were short, but Monday morning ones were long. Dad had to get me out. I had left no hot water, so he was unhappy to say the least.

I arrived at school with about half an hour to spare, though. I was glad because it was a relatively sunny day, a blessing when it was nearly December. I parked in the sun, then sat on the tailgate and cracked open my book, Moonrise. I really didn't care if anybody saw me reading Warriors; if they didn't like what I read, then they really didn't care about me.

Going to a school that had about three thousand students tended to give you an attitude of not caring what others thought about you. That or you cared a lot. I hadn't met a lot of inbetweens. I really didn't care because I had developed the not caring attitude, obviously. Having an openly bisexual mother and openly bi myself, I tended to be the topic of some vicious gossip. I was usually a very huggy person especially with my friends who usually tended to be female despite my tomboy attitude. Most of the rumors were that I were dating my friends… Wasn't ever true, though.

I shrugged and flipped the page when I noticed the silver Volvo pull up next to my truck. The driver was the one boy… Edmund, was it? I didn't pay much attention though I felt him staring at me which was creepy at the least. I checked my watch and saw I had about five minutes until class started, so I headed there.

My first three classes passed by rather slowly and boringly. English, normal. Trig, failed to understand anything. Spanish, fairly easy because I had a few Mexican friends and my mom and I often spoke Spanglish at home.

The first person to greet me was Alice. The little pixie (I had heard a few people call her that) bobbed up and down. "I'm glad you're safe." She breathed a sigh of relief and I raised an eyebrow. It's not like I was in much danger aside from tripping, right? That brought me back to the conversation Billy and Jacob had on Saturday. There was somebody trying to hurt me, but how would Alice know? (I remembered her name because it was hard to forget someone that had known about an accident before it happened. Had to remember to ask about that.)

"You'll find out soon enough," Alice said, almost as if in response to my thoughts. Okay… This is weird. I sat next to Angela (having finally learned her name in Trig) and struck up a conversation.

"You enjoy your weekend?" I asked.

"Yeah. Ben and I hug out a bit." She blushed a little and I smiled. "We shopped a while in Port Angeles and talked about the paper."

"What paper?" I asked, a bit scared.

"Oh don't worry. It was assigned earlier last week before you came. I'm pretty sure you'll be exempt." I breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing I wanted was to miss a big paper just as soon as I got here.

"I should check, just in case." I was such a goody two-shoes sometimes. Then again, I did want to get into a good school so I could become and animal therapist. That or work with mentally challenged people. I still wasn't sure which, but those were my goals. I heard a loud sniff beside me and I saw it came from Alice. Okay, that was weird…

The bell rang and I sighed. As much as I loved history, I didn't always love history class. The teacher we had was like a drill sergeant. It kept class in order, but also made it so boring…

I blinked when I saw a little old lady standing at the front of the room. What the…? She was even shorter than Alice! The woman had to have been two heads shorter than me easily. When she looked at me, I was at peace, but also had the urge to run far away at the same time. She was clearly Native American, not that there was a problem with it.

"Settle down, class, please." Her voice was soft and made you think of doilies and hand knit sweaters weirdly. She just had the whole vibe of a grandmother, yet I sensed something…more beneath her docile exterior. "I am Taho, an elder from the Quileute tribe." I heard stifled groans. It seemed as if a lot of people weren't fond of them. She merely chuckled, though. "Don't worry. I'm not boring, at least the children in the tribe tell me. I'm your new history teacher. Your principal asked me to because your other teacher resigned." I saw a mysterious glint in her eyes and had a feeling she had something to do with it.

The rest of the class was absolutely amazing. Classes are usually loud after lunch, but this one was completely silent. Taho had us all on the edge of our seat as she was telling us stories. It was the most interesting class I'd ever had. I was really looking forward to tomorrow. It was weird, though; she seemed to have her eyes on me most of the time.

When the bell rang to dismiss us, it was like a spell had been broken. Everybody started talking excitedly, discussing the mysterious Quileute woman and her amazing storytelling. I was the last to get all my stuff packed because I had decided to work on my Spanish, but that obviously had fallen through. Taho walked up to me and put her hand on my arm. "Be careful, Bella. There are forces in this world you don't understand."

"What?" I looked at her, bewildered.

"Don't go into the woods alone and beware the Cold Ones." She went to her desk and pulled a pass out. I groaned as I heard the bell ring. Only my second day here and already tardy for a class. I was rarely ever late. Taho chuckled and handed me the pass. "Go on, now."

I picked my bag up and headed for Mr. Banner's room. I didn't waste any time in getting to Bio. I grudgingly took my see next to Edmund or whatever his name was. "Hello. I'm Edward Cullen," he said suavely. What the…? He had been a complete jackass toward me Friday, then stared at me this morning like a stalker or something. "I'm sorry about Friday. I had a bad day."

I glared at him and said nothing. Was he playing at something? Jackass one day, perfect gentleman the next. I wasn't going to talk to him more than necessary or at all if possible.

"Mitosis lab." I groaned at Mr. Banner's announcement. Gods damn my luck.

Mr. Banner passed the slides out and I snatched the first one up, glaring at my partner, then slid it into the clamp. "Anaphase," I said matter-of-factly, writing it on the sheet. Wardo gently took the next slide and placed it on the microscope.

"Prophase. Would you like to check?" I checked and nodded. "Prophase." He wrote it down on the sheet. I noticed his handwriting and looked at him strangely. It was like something from the early 1900s or something. Nobody wrote like that anymore. There was more to this guy than met the eye.

We went through the other slides relatively quickly and an awkward silence fell over us. Wardo broke it quickly, though. "What are you doing in Forks?" I glared at him. Was he seriously trying to get to know me? I had no problems with it, usually, but after Friday, I wanted nothing to do with him. "Well?" I stayed silent, my arms folded.

I heard him sigh and I smirked. He was getting annoyed. Good. "Please, Bella." Please what? What did he want from me? Whatever. He wasn't worth anything to me. That sounds egotistical, I know, but he acted like he hated me the first time he had laid eyes on me.

The rest of class passed without any other interruptions from him thankfully. Gym… I'm forgetting that class even happened. Soccer and I don't mix. Let's just leave it at that.

When I walked up to my truck, I saw Alice sitting on the hood, reading. I sighed, a little annoyed. It felt like she wouldn't leave me alone for some reason. Maybe the whole her saying I was safe at lunch thing. "What do you want?" I asked. She looked up, a little startled.

"I want to tell you to be nice to Edward," she said. What? How did she know about my behavior toward him? Bro and sis. Duh.

"Why should I? He acted rude to me on Friday. No, he acted like he hated me or something," I said coolly.

"Please, Bella? For me?" She looked at me with puppy dog eyes and I shrugged. I'd babysat enough cousins and whatnot to become immune to puppy dog eyes. Alice pouted, giving me the lower lip. I bit mine. _That_ usually worked on me, though, but I couldn't give in. Ward was a complete jerk to me.

"Give up, Alice. She's not going to give in. Even I can _see_ that." The blonde sister walked up, hand on her hip. Man, was she gorgeous…

"Rosalie!" Alice squeaked, jumping off the hood. "Don't you dare!"

"Don't what?" Rosalie batted her eyelashes innocently while Alice glared at her. I merely blinked, confused. What in the world was going on?

"But I've seen…!" Alice said.

"Don't forget some people like Dances with _Wolves._" Alice blinked for a moment, then facepalmed.

"That's why. So there are three…?" Rosalie nodded again, clearly not looking happy. What in the world was going on?

"Bella, please don't give Edward the _cold_ shoulder," Rosalie said. What was with the stress on certain words? She was looking at me expectantly as if trying to get me to realize something. Mkay. I'd figure it out later. "Looks like there might be _thunder_ soon and the _birds _will stop singing." She shrugged, then got in the Volvo where Wardo was sitting. Alice danced away to her car where her boyfriend was.

I got into my truck and drove home, thinking about the encounter. Why did it seem like Rosalie was expecting me to figure something out? Why had Alice been waiting for me? Why had she freaked out when Rosalie put emphasis on _see_? Why were they trying to get me to be nice to Wardo? Why had Taho warned me to beware of the Cold Ones? Why did it seem like the mysterious Quileute woman knew more than she was letting on? There were so many unanswered questions. Let's look at the facts…

Wardo acted like he hated me Friday. Jacob acted strange on Saturday. I had a weird dream this morning. The history teacher had changed to a Quileute that warned me to be careful of the Cold Ones. Wardo acted like a perfect gentleman today. Alice was waiting for me. She freaked out when Rosalie put emphasis on _see._ Rosalie was expecting me to figure something out. They wanted me to be nice to Wardo.

Maybe the key was in what Rosalie had said… See, wolves, cold, thunder, birds… No clue where _see_ came from. Wolves… The Quileutes? They had legends with werewolves. Cold… The Cold Ones? Vampires? They didn't exist, though. Thunder? Birds? The thunderbird… That made a little more sense. The thunderbird was a powerful totem animal, but what did it have to do with me? Maybe that dream…

I pulled into the driveway, still mulling over the meaning of things. I knew I was onto something, but didn't have any idea as to what. "Bella." I blinked, a wall about two inches in front of me. Dad was in the doorway to the kitchen. "Something wrong?"

"No. Just thinking. We've got a test in Trig and I'm probably going to fail," I said. Luckily, it was true. We had a test this upcoming Friday. I was worried about it, but more worried about what Rosalie was trying to tell me. I made a mental note to ask Taho tomorrow if the legends were true.


	7. Chapter 6

Moar filler.

Writer's block again. Krystal too. I hate my current drought of ideas. -falls down on her face-

Quick question: am I good at being subtle? Weird, I know, but I just wanna know if I am or not.

* * *

I arrived at school with about half an hour to spare. I quickly went into the history classroom and saw Taho sitting at the teacher desk, grading papers. She looked up when I came in and I saw that mysterious glint in her eyes. "I wondered how long it would be until you asked. My warning, yes?"

"No. It was something Rosalie said to me yesterday." I saw Taho's eyes widen and she choked a bit. "You okay?"

"You…talked to the Cold Ones?"

"What? They aren't vampires," I said. "They aren't vampires. Vampires don't exist."

"Of course they do. You ought to know all myths have some basis in reality. In this case, the legends are completely true." She folded her arms and sighed. "The Cold Ones are dangerous. I advise you to stay away from them."

"But they're around people," I said. I wasn't standing up for them; I was just point out something extremely obvious.

Taho shook her head. "They are dangerous regardless. You should stay at La Push on weekends. Stay around Jacob, Leah and Seth."

"Why?!" I glared at her. "I just got here now I'm under house arrest at Billy's?!" What an outrage!

Taho sighed again. "Just trust me, child. You should stay away from them." I ignored her and turned on my heel, heading to English. There were still about fifteen minutes left before class started, but Eric was there.

"Are you okay, Bella?" he asked. "You look upset."

"It's nothing," I said coolly.

"If there's anything to need to talk about, you can tell me," he said. "Anything." I shook my head and retrieved Warriors Dawn from my bag. I wasn't mad because she had told me what to do. Well, partially, but the main reason was because it was practically racist, the way she was acting. One of the things that pissed me off most was any type of racism. My Mexican friends back in Arizona had usually been treated like scum by some of my other friends' parents and even some of the teachers. It pissed me off so much when people saw others only through stereotypes.

Mona had never been fond of Mexicans because of the whole outsourcing thing and taking jobs from her home state of Cali. I couldn't blame her about being angry about the outsourcing thing, but it wasn't my friends' fault. They were all legal citizens of the US as were their parents. That was one of the few things I didn't like about Mona, but I let it slide since she didn't usually bring it up.

It took me the rest of English and most of Spanish to calm me down. Luckily, Spanish had a calming effect on me because it reminded me of Phoenix. Of course, it also brought sadness because it reminded me of Mom. She had been fluent in Spanish and I had also managed to pick stuff up from her. We often spoke Spanglish though we were both Caucasian.

Mom had loved Mexican culture because shad had traveled there a lot on business. She had been a travel agent, so we often got to travel outside the US. That would be one of the things I missed most about Mom. I loved experiencing other cultures and making friends in those countries. That reminded me to check my email when I got home. See if I had any letters from my pen pals…

Trig dragged on and I struggled, though I was glad to have Angela next to me. She was a math whiz while I sucked, so she helped me when I was struggling. I thanked her a lot for helping me.

Lunch came and my stomach clenched a bit. How should I react to Alice? I knew what she and her siblings were. It was going to be awkward. I sat at the table and Alice danced over. "Bella!"

"Hi," I muttered and she blinked.

"I'm so happy!" She put her arms around me and I shuttered. Her arms were freezing! She _was_ a Cold one! "You know," she breathed in my ear. "I know because I can see the future." I pushed her away and she looked hurt. "Please? Can I be your best friend?"

"I have a best friend," I said coolly, referring to Jacob. This little pixie was really getting on my nerves. She pouted, giving me the lip and I looked away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rosalie get up and drag Alice to where she and Wardo were sitting. I also noticed Rosalie beamed at me, making me even more confused.

The bell rang, announcing lunch was over. I sighed and stood up, heading to history. I really didn't want to face Taho after this morning. She made no visible sign of being angry with me, though. "We'll be taking a break from American History for two weeks to focus on Quileute legends." She looked directly at me, then launched into a legend about the thunderbird.

Taho's spell fell over us again, even me. The class was silent and we all listened intently. I found my self nodding off, though, and on the back of the black bird from the other night.

I wasn't afraid though I was hundreds of feet in the air. After a while, the bird landed and I slid off its back, looking around. The bird stood at attention, showing human intelligence or even greater. I took a step and was met by a soft growling. A large black wolf stepped out of the bushes and I stepped back. The bird took a few steps and spread its wing in front of me.

_She's a danger!_ I heard a voice snap in my head. It had a primal sound to it, so I guessed it was the wolf.

_She is under my protection, Sam, _another voice responded. Assuming the bird.

_Yatwe, you know she could tip the balance of the real, spiritual and supernatural worlds._

_She is under my protection._ The bird tossed his head, glaring at the wolf. He dropped his wing though he was still clearly protecting me. _What you say is true, but it is up to her how she will use the power._ I tried to say something, but my voice wouldn't work.

The wolf pawed at the ground. _You know as well as I do the future hangs in the balance. There is a two-thirds chance of the bloodsuckers getting her with only a third of a chance she'll be on our side._ What in the world did the wolf mean? I'd end up with the vampires or wolves?

_Just because that's what Ayasha has seen does not mean it will come to pass. The future is subjective, always changing. I never saw the paleskins coming. I cannot see what is going to happen now._

_Fine, but we will keep an eye on her. _The wolf eyed me, then walked off

The bird turned his head toward me, then dipped it. _I am Yatwe, a thunderbird. The future hangs in the balance. You are the key. Taho advised you not to befriend the ones known as the Cullens, but it is impartive you do. Even if you do not like it, you must._ I looked at him and sighed. I had no choice, it seemed. He spread his wings out, clearly wanting me to get on his back. I got on and he took off.

A sudden thump woke me up and I saw Taho looking at me. "What?" I muttered, sitting up. The class was gone and I heard the bell ring.

"Speak to me after school." She walked to her desk, filled out a pass and tossed it at me. I sighed. Second time in a row I've been late for bio. I hurried to Mr. Banner's room and sat next to Wardo.

"So, you know," he muttered and I nodded. My heart thumped and his green eyes seemed to darken. He licked his lips and I gulped. What was with the darkening eyes? It might not be something I wanted to know.

"Yeah? What's it to you?" I muttered.

"Nothing really. It's just interesting is all." He smiled, still licking his lips. I noticed that he kept glancing at me out of the side of his eye.

"What?" I glared at him. Why in the hell was he staring at me?

"Nothing."

We fell silent though he kept glancing at me and licking his lips. What was it he wanted with me? His eyes clearly did darken slowly. By the end of the lesson, they were black as midnight and he clearly was using a massive amount of self-control. I didn't stick around to find out why.

In the gym, I blinked when I saw Rosalie there. She hadn't been there Friday or yesterday. Maybe she got her schedule changed? She walked over, smiling. "Hi, Bella."

"Hi, Rosalie," I said, blinking. Her hazel eyes flashed as she smiled at me and I unconsciously took a step toward her, but stumbled on a rope. She caught me from falling and I felt my face burn with embarrassment as I stood up straight. "Thanks…"

"No problem, Bella." She continued to smile that mysterious smile and I shook my head. "What's wrong?"

"You. You're acting like I'm your best friend or something. You tried to tell me your secret. Why?"

"You'll find out soon enough, Bella. I promise." I swore I saw a faint coloration to her cheeks, then she smiled again. "If you're wondering why I'm in your gym class now, it's because you need protection."

I narrowed my eyebrows, scowling. In Forks not even a week and already put under constant surveillance. I expected it would be Dad that did something like that, not a family of vampires I didn't even know and the Quileute tribe. Gods, how annoying. And they wouldn't even tell me why. Only Yatwe seemed to give me any answers, but even he was ambiguous. I sighed.

"It's from outside forces as much as yourself." Rosalie's eyes twinkled with good humor, but I continued to scowl. She sighed. "Come on, Bella; don't be such a bad sport. Your life could be in danger… Actually, it is. Please, Bella, relax a bit."

"How can I?! I just lost my mother, I've moved to a town I haven't been to in years and I'm put under house arrest by vampires and werewolves without an explanation!" I shouted. Tears streamed down my face as people stared at me. I didn't care, though. I was fed up with it after not even a day. Rosalie folded her arms and sighed.

"We're roleplaying. Bella really gets into character," she said to everyone. They shrugged and went back to what they had been doing before. She dragged me over to the bleachers and stared hard at me. "Don't just show it to the world." Her voice came as a hiss as she glared a bit. "They won't buy this roleplaying thing for long; they know the Cullens never do anything geeky like that."

"Sorry, but I have every right to be angry! I don't know you and you declare yourself my body guards!" I hissed. "You don't even give me a reason as to why other than my life is in danger! The only person that has given me any answers is Yatwe!"

"Who?" Rosalie blinked, confused. I couldn't help but feel a little smug, knowing something she didn't. "Don't you give me that look, Bella Swan. I might not know who he is, but he's got to be on our side. Is he a Quileute?"

"Like I'm going to give it away?" I retorted, scowling at her again and she sighed.

"Come on, Bella. I've been nothing but friendly to you. Could you at least try to be nice to me? I can understand about Edward and Alice. Alice can be annoying and overbearing. Edward can be a major prick. But I've been friendly."

"Fine…" I muttered. "But will you answer me one thing?"

"That depends on what it is."

"What was with Wardo on Friday? He acted like he hated me."

"You're what's called his singer. To him, your blood smells like the most delicious thing on the face of the Earth. I'm surprised he didn't eat you right there."

"Why?"

"He's only been with us about a decade and it's hard for him to control his bloodlust."

"What do you mean only been with you a decade?"

"Our lifestyle is different than that of most vampires. We drink the blood of animals, mostly herbivores because they're more plentiful. If we know a place has an overpopulation of predators, we might take a couple, but generally stick with whatever's more plentiful."

I nodded. It made sense, I guess. But why not stick to humans when there's more of an overpopulation problem with them? It's not that I didn't care about humans, being one myself; there were just way too many of them on the planet. I shrugged; it was their choice.

"Well, come on. We can't just stand around all class talking. We Cullens are known for being very active." Rosalie smiled and yanked me by the wrist, dragging me into a volleyball game.

"R-Rosalie! I-I'm not..."

"Don't worry, Bella. It's not that hard," she said, smiling. "Just follow my lead. She easily guided me through the game, covering for me when I needed it...and that was a lot.

After the game, I walked off the court, dazed. Rosalie followed, laughing. "That was fun, wasn't it?" I shook my head and she pouted fakely. "It wasn't that bad."

"Maybe not for you," I said, sitting on the bleachers. I pulled a water bottle out of my backpack and chugged half of it down. "Me, I'm a danger to everyone around including myself."

"You're not that bad," Rosalie said. "You played with the boys back in Phoenix, didn't you?" I looked at her suspiciously and she rolled her eyes. "The way you interact with the boys here, it isn't hard to tell you prefer hanging out with guys to girls."

"Yeah. Girls cause way too much drama. At least the ones I hung out with were tomboys or transgender, so they didn't care for the drama, either."

"You don't like conflict, do you?"

"Not one bit." I sighed. Even though Mom and Dad had been divorced when I was around four, I could still recall some of the fights they got into. Sometimes they had gotten heated and Dad accidentally hit her. I could perfectly recall the look on his face when he did it. I knew he regretted it even to this day. He wasn't abusive; he just had an extremely explosive temper like me.

I could tell from the look on Rosalie's face something involving conflict and me was coming up soon. I could also tell that she sensed my knowledge and bit her lip. "Bella, you have no idea what's going on. Please, just be careful if none of us are around."

"I will."


End file.
